WWE Elimination Chamber 2025: Sell Your Soul to The Rock - or I WILL!

[hammerva]

I do like when they do show a completely over the top crowd reaction these days, the rest of the crowd reacts like "HAHAH looked at that dork".    That happened a couple times it feels

It does seem like the WWE new policy on blood is that you will see it but only once to make it mean something.  Which is a good policy if it wasn't for the fact that you had this vicious Sami vs KO match before it.   Like people are worried and that if too many people bleed on a show it will start looking like 1985 Starcade up here 

[Boss Rock]

This is all still pretty surreal. Honestly never thought I'd see the day Cena turned heel.

[Timbo Slice]

It worked, but there were unforced errors all over the place. Cena didn’t need to make that face that will absolutely become a meme at some point. Cole didn’t know how to respond to the moment; he was supposed to express shock, but missed the Rolex cue, didn’t rise up to meet the moment before going into the ring afterwards…for such a big moment, especially with how he called Cody’s title win and this (assumedly) needed to be the inverse of it. And Travis Scott being there just was a non-factor; he’s a big star, yeah, but also, he added nothing outside of an entrance and was comical in the beat down. Also, if you’re gonna do blood in THAT moment, really go for it. Lot to be desired here. 

[NintendoLogic]

I didn't think there was anything in the current scene that could grab my attention other than Punk/Gunther, but I'm all-in on heel Cena even if he's a dead ringer for the Ronald Reagan Spitting Image puppet at this point. The only way that segment could have been better is if Rock had given the signal by raising his eyebrow like when he kicked Faarooq out of the Nation of Domination. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but Cena choking Cody with his tie reminded me of the Nexus beatdown.

[KawadaSmile]

59 minutes ago, Timbo Slice said:

Also, if you’re gonna do blood in THAT moment, really go for it.

I think they tried really hard to make Cody bleed, with two stiff title hits, but it just wasn't flowing like they wanted.

But hey, to me everything worked to turn it into a memorable, top tier segment. Maybe Travis Scott is there as a guest verse for Cena's heel song?

[Boss Rock]

Apparently Scott was throwing legit punches at Cody.

[Timbo Slice]

Deciding to try and do hardway when even the slightest blade job to allow the other stuff shots to really get it flowing seeing shortsighted. 

[hammerva]

4 hours ago, Boss Rock said:

Apparently Scott was throwing legit punches at Cody.

Yeah the video of it he is basically slapping Cody in the back of the head and apparently hasn't figured out to open his hands up.  Looked pretty bad but it wouldn't shock me if Cody told Travis to do it.

To be fair I think I would rather take that then that hair whip that Bianca gave Liv.   Jesus the sound of that was intense and she didn't let up one bit.

 

[DMJ]

Good segment, but not an all-timer.

I think its really hard, post-Bash 96', to really get that huge, seismic heel turn because, post-Bash 96', we as fans are now somewhat trained to believe that even the most heroic of heroes can turn. 

That being said, Hogan's turn was also bigger and better because it was Hogan's turn as part of Hogan's story. This was John Cena turning heel in service of a multi-year Rock/Cody program. It was more akin to the way Austin turned to join Vince than it was an nWo moment, a turn that was famously abandoned by the end of the year and not remembered fondly by anyone.

It also doesn't help that, for all the awful, awful, horrendous things we know the Hulkster for, he did, at the very least, understand symbolism (or at least Kevin Sullivan did?). The segment ended with The Rock whipping him with a belt, not Cena hitting him with an AA, or, even better, hitting him with a You Can't See Me fist-drop, which would've got NUCLEAR heat.

In the segment I saw, John Cena was a side character, a lackey, he's Bebop and Travis Scott was ostensibly Rocksteady. And Cena's also balding and pale and Hogan was, to his credit, only one of those things in 96'. 

I wouldn't call it a total misfire because Cody telling The Rock to fuck himself was huge. But this was not nearly as good as it could've been.

 

It also didn't help that McAfee didn't have the wisdom to not talk until after the turn, which is what Cole did (I'm not even sure Wade Barrett said a word for the last 20 minutes, which was also smart). WWE commentators are important wallpaper and, throughout this show, I felt like McAfee really showed how much he is a podcaster/talking head and not a storyteller, annoyingly bringing up that the fans booed the US national anthem (I know, PWO) apropos of nothing multiple times. The big moments of this show needed less commentary but McAfee didn't get that because he's literally paid millions to talk non-stop for hours a day.


EDIT - Oh, and as for Travis Scott throwing "shoot" punches. These guys are pro-wrestlers. I'm sure Cody can handle a few potatoes from a guy that weighs maybe 160 pounds and probably hasn't been in a real fight since grade school. Its like none of you have accidentally hit your head on a low ceiling or slipped on ice. Yeah, things hurt. It doesn't mean the guy who built my house with a low-ass basement was "taking liberties." 

[sek69]

To be fair Travis Scott was probably pretty amped to be doing an angle with the Rock and Cena and got too carried away. I agree that Cody probably told him to "make it look good" if ya weeeell.

Honestly for as much as you could quibble about it, this was the biggest heel turn since Hogan just for the "you never thought this guy would be a heel" factor. Yes I know Hogan was a heel in his first pre Hulkamania WWF run but that hasn't been canon since 1984.  Plus with the Austin turn it made zero sense that after years of him and Vince trying to murder each other they would just suddenly start working together. Cena and Rock had their program but it wasn't a years long blood feud.

Another thing to consider that as shocking as Hogan's turn was, the payoff was a Starrcade main event with Sting that was "botched" by fast counts not working for him brother. Followed by years of him putting anyone under age 40 in their own box away from any hope of getting over. The Cena turn is going to lead to 2 generational icons facing the guy who's the face of the current generation in a match that, unless disaster strikes, will probably blow away business records.

[KawadaSmile]

You see? That's what losing the Rumble to Jey Uso does to a mf

[Dav'oh]

I like John, but this means nothing in 2025. He's utterly irrelevant to the modern product, having been invisible for the last (x) years. The time to turn him was LAST FUCKING DECADE.

This is shaking the dribble off at the end of a piss, not a full-stream sandblast the turds off the bowl piss like Hogan's turn. 

Rock and Cena as your stars in 2025 reminds me of Verne Gagne and Bock in 1985 AWA. Like, just piss off, already.

[strobogo]

Imagine watching that segment and thinking it means nothing. What world are you guys in?

[sek69]

41 minutes ago, Dav'oh said:

Rock and Cena as your stars in 2025 reminds me of Verne Gagne and Bock in 1985 AWA. Like, just piss off, already.

Except Verne and Bock weren't the biggest stars in Hollywood in 1985. This is the most star power they could hope to have on a Mania card since Stone Cold seems content being a full time cat dad on Instagram.

[Jmare007]

Yeah, I'm like wtf reading some of these posts. If you didn't like the segment for whatever reason(s) that's ok, but acting like it wasn't smash hit and wont mean both an entertaining angle and continuing WWE's current boom is baffling.

[EnviousStupid]

I think the biggest part of why this recent turn has so much traction and attention stems from how so many fans had been clamouring for Cena to go heel for years, being denied such for years, to the point that everyone more or less stopped believing it could happen, better appreciating in hindsight how well he played the top babyface hero role for so long while he reaches the final chapter of his in-ring career, and swerving everyone when they finally pulled the trigger. 

Could it have worked 10 years earlier? Maybe. It's all hypothetical, but there's probably a few key points (vs. Taker, vs. Rock) where the moment could have had similar magnitude. But the reality is, Cena turned here and will face the current top babyface for the world title in the main event of WrestleMania. The full segment on YT hasn't even been up for a day and has nearly 3.5mil views. I've already seen and heard plenty of non-wrestling fans asking about the turn and why it is such a big deal.

[Timbo Slice]

Also, it makes storyline sense that Cena would need an edge to get #17 and that he’d have to make a deal he probably didn’t want to make to get it to happen. Cena as champ with a bunch of Rock cronies protecting his investment until SummerSlam, maybe even Survivor Series, has a lot more legs here. And leads to Cody getting an opportunity to face Rock either for the belt or without it. Cena still has Roman, Punk, a few others to face before year’s end. All gravy, really. 

[flyonthewall2983]

The F bomb, clearly scripted, is as key a moment here. How almost therapeutic that moment was in light of speaking truth to power, was amazing to watch even as just a instagram reel because the crowd just erupted for that response. It reminded me most of Hogan’s “Hell No” to DiBiase in 1987, and serves to remind me how much things have both changed and stayed the same.

[El-P]

Strictly speaking about character arc, Cena's heel turn as every bit as big as Hogan's in 1996, if not bigger, since Cena really had never been a heel as a top guy. Much bigger than the Austin one, as Austin had been a heel only 4 years before.

As far as business goes, it is nothing like Hogan turning in 1996. Hogan turning was a major shift in the pro-wrestling landscape and was the beginning of a new boom period first for WCW, then for the entire industry, after a ridiculously down period, and switched the power dynamics. Cena's turn means what in the grand scheme of things ? WWE is *already* hot as hell, breaking gates record every other show, filling stadiums like nobody's business. They already are on Netfix (although the drops week to week showed that it had been quite overrated in term of worldwide audience, maybe that Cena angle is gonna fix that for a while though). Mania was gonna be another record breaking event, Cena turning heel or not. Does that makes it even bigger ? Sure. But not *that much* bigger. Cena's retirement year was already gonna make it bigger no matter what.

As far as the angle itself, there's SO MANY layers of irony in that it's basically a redux of the entire heel Corporate Champ angle from the Attitude era.

(the only thing I actually saw from the event was that clip of Pat MAGAfee being triggered, while Drake was in the background. Which is also an amazingly ironic sequence)

[KingBoggs33]

23 hours ago, hammerva said:

 Like people are worried and that if too many people bleed on a show it will start looking like 1985 Starcade up here 

Or any AEW PPV 

[The Thread Killer]

On 3/2/2025 at 12:19 AM, sek69 said:

I thought for sure Cody was going to accept Rock's offer and go full Homelander against Cena to set up him winning #17 at Mania....never in a million years did I think after all these years we'd finally get the Cena heel turn.

Well played Trips, you got me!

It's funny, I was watching this show with one of my oldest friends...the guy who I literally started watching Pro Wrestling with when I was a kid, back in 1983.  While we watched the show, we were talking about the various possible outcomes of the Men's Elimination Chamber, who we wanted to win, who we thought might win, and how they would match up with Cody.

When it came to John Cena, we agreed we absolutely didn't want him to win and fight Cody for the Title in the Main Event at Wrestlemania.  We figured either Cena and Cody would do the typical babyface vs. babyface angle, with plenty of boring "I respect you but I have to beat you" promos...or that Cody would take The Rock up on his "Sell Me Your Soul" offer and be the heel vs. Cena.  We agreed that there will eventually some mileage in a heel Cody run, but he's not quite there yet...and besides, if they did it this way, it would end up being more about The Rock, not Cody.

My point is...it literally never even crossed either of our minds that John Cena would turn heel as part of this angle.  And we've both been watching Pro Wrestling since 1983. I know Cena has said in interviews a bunch of times over the years that he wished he had a heel run at some point, and I remember him even saying he bought new ring gear and had a new entrance theme done, to try and convince Vince McMahon that he could do it, but Vince wouldn't go for it. But I'd never have guessed that they would finally let him do it on his much ballyhooed "Retirement Tour."  Hell, just based on the potential reaction from kids and the potential loss of merchandise sales alone.

I am absolutely not a WWE fanboy, but I have to admit...that is two straight shows where they made a creative decision that I totally did not see coming. I never saw Jey Uso winning the Royal Rumble and doing a rematch with Gunther after they just fought on SNME.  And I definitely never saw Cena turning on Cody coming, not one little bit. So fair play to WWE, they must be doing something right creatively.

Did they pull it off 100% perfectly?  No. I freely admit that I have literally no idea who Travis Scott is. I don't think I'd even seen him before he appeared on WWE TV. I have no idea what purpose he was supposed to be serving during this angle, dancing around like an idiot, waving burning sage in the air.  And I certainly hope that Cody gave him permission ahead of time to punch him in the head like that, otherwise that was incredibly irresponsible.  The flip side is, I'm a middle aged white dude.  As far as I'm concerned, they stopped making music in 1999 or so.  I am not the target audience for appearances like this.  Much like with "Bad Bunny" (whom I had also never head of) I can only guess that these people are meant to appeal to the infamous 18-35 year old demographic and make WWE more "relevant" whatever the hell that even means now.

Also, if they were to strap Michael Cole and Pat McAfee to a rocket and shoot them into deep space, I would be a happy man. Michael Cole always has been and always will be an oblivious, clueless, obnoxious prick and he has proven that yet again recently with some of the media appearances he has been making.  He pays lip service to Jim Ross being the greatest Pro Wrestling play-by-play guy of all time, but then trots out the same old tired "this isn't Pro Wrestling, this is entertainment" talking points from the Vince era.  This maroon has been working in WWE since time immemorial, and he still managed to come across as clueless and totally unimpressive during the Cena heel turn.  Just think of how JR in his prime or even Tony Schiavone would have handled the call during this angle.  Cole could have added to this and made it even more memorable, but of course he didn't, because he doesn't have the skill required.  There was no "Hulk Hogan, you can go to hell" or "With God as my witness, he's been broken in half" here, because Cole just doesn't have the chops, and he never will. He's a corporate shill, and that's all he's ever going to be. He brings nothing to moments like this. And as for McAfee?  Argh. He's a very poor man's Don West, just without the personality, charm or likeability. Screaming stupid shit doesn't make you a good Color Commentator, it just makes you look and sound like a jackass.

As far as the violence and blood aspect of the angle, I'm inclined to give them a pass there.  I assumed that either Cody tried to blade and messed it up (which is highly unlikely considering his heritage) or they committed ahead of time to doing it the proverbial "hard way."  I honestly think Cody was supposed to get busted open with the watch (the watch that Cody had given The Rock last year after Wrestlemania, which was now being used against him as a weapon, that Michael Cole totally failed to push as part of the angle - he thought the watch was brass knuckles?!) the problem is that he either got punched in the wrong place (like his ear) or it just didn't draw the blood they expected.

Yeah, Cena's face was kind of hammy when he hugged Cody...but so what. This ain't Shakespeare, and at least it was no "I'm sorry, I love you."  One thing I absolutely loved was that I had just said to my friend: "Great, here is where we get a long, drawn out, 20 minute speech from Cody" and instead he tells The Rock to Fuck Off. I popped, I admit it.

On 3/2/2025 at 9:34 AM, Blehschmidt said:

This company is ridiculous

I hear you...but to me, it's more that the differences between AEW and WWE have never been more distinct than they are right now.  I'm looking at the next AEW PPV and I see that Kyle Fletcher is fighting Will Ospreay and Omega is fighting Takeshita.  I haven't been following AEW at all really, for the past few months.  But I am betting I will be able to watch that show and those two matches will be absolute bangers.  It might be an arguably safe bet that from the standpoint of the in-ring quality, one or both of those matches could end up being better quality than anything WWE ends up putting out there for Wrestlemania, even.

WWE has changed so much, especially since being acquired by Endeavor and folded into TKO.  One of the things I absolutely hate about watching UFC, especially on TV is the interminable downtime between fights. Between the ring entrances and the interviews and the endless hype for upcoming events, there are always so many delays.  And more and more, WWE has really become just like that.  More corporate than ever.  WWE was never all about the actual wrestling and that honestly hasn't changed all that much. As JR always says, they are selling the sizzle, not the steak. I don't love that, but I can live with it.  Especially because they are finally presenting stuff from a creative standpoint that I find enjoyable and entertaining.  I can see how it isn't for everybody, especially the hardcore fan...but the flip side is that I would take this WWE product in a heartbeat over the crap they were producing as recently as 2-3 years ago.  The WWE product to me has become a lot more fun than it used to be.

[El-P]

1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said:

More corporate than ever.

Which is why this angle is ironic. Because from Dwayne to Cena to Cody, we have the alignement of the most picture perfect of WWE-made corporate champs, both kayfabe wise and in reality.

And really, what John Cena's era of WWE represent is the dirt worst idea of pro-wrestling imaginable to me. All of it : the presentation, the in-ring style, the promo-style, everything. Dwayne was the first step. Cody is the last evolution. It's been incredibly successful, like a huge, empty and soulless Hollywood blockbuster is incredibly successful. All three together is like the perfect match for *this* angle at *this* Mania. But if that was all that pro-wrestling had to offer, I would have ceased being a fan a long time ago. (not to mention the contextual stuff that makes WWE unwatchable to me, but that's beside the point)

On Sunday night I was watching the latest Mystery Wrestling show (promoted by Evil Uno) on Twitch. And you had Uno and Allie (the Bunny, who looked quite happy) shooting the shit about this and that (some really fun inside stuff, like how a simple bodyslam is the worst bump to take) while some absurd matches are taking place in front of a handful of people in Gatineau, Quebec. And have them mark out at Stu Grayson and Gabe Kidd having a complete banger that would not look out of place on an AEW show or the NJPW G1 Climax. And I was like, "Yeah, this is why pro-wrestling is so fun to me, still to this day". 

[strobogo]

It's hilarious that these exact arguments have been made in fan mags and Usenet for 60 years.

[El-P]

One day there should be a serious historical, socio-economical and stylistic study on why WWWF/WWF/WWE has always been the dominant promotion and yet lamest style (come one people, be real now), and why maybe it has always produced the lamest style *because* of its dominant position (due to it being in a privilege position since its inception aka NYC based).

[strobogo]

It's probably not that deep, just the same idea as westerns and super hero movies being the top genre for decades at a time. Easy and familiar and most mass appeal.